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I have a Maestro debit card issued by a European bank.

Will I be able to use it to withdraw cash from ATMs and banks in Cuba?

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The answer seems to be yes. On January 23, 2015 Mastercard said they will lift the transaction block on US cards in Cuba source. On June 27, 2016 the Central Bank of Cuba today authorized the use of MasterCards issued by Stonegate Bank in the US and Banco Popular of Puerto Rico in operations at ATMs in the Cuban capital source. So MasterCard is present in the country. This article mentions

A Londoner from Portugal who worked for a multinational company was also staying there for one more night. My 24-hour roommate was fluent in Spanish and English. I explained my story to her, and she said that the ATMs worked fine.

According to tripadvisor

MASTERCARDS will not be accepted in ATM's but, as with VISA cards, so long as they are issued by a non US based bank, can be used to draw cash at the counter of a Cadeca or Bank.

Whether this is outdated or not is hard to find. That's the main problem: everything online is highly suspect to be outdated.

So while it is not 100% clear whether it'll work in an ATM or not, there's a third hand very recent report it just might but even if it doesn't, it should work in a bank.

And yet, I'd only rely on this for emergencies and I would bring enough cash with me.

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  • Maestro and MasterCard, while being part of the same parent company, are operated as separate systems. So what MasterCard does, is not necessarily what Maestro does. Maestro still does not list Cuba in its search function for ATMs and historically has not been usable in Cuba, even though issued by European banks. The OP needs to ask his issuing bank about usage in Cuba.
    – user13044
    Dec 16, 2016 at 7:26
  • For ATMs this should be checked only practically, and for bank the answer is yes. I used Mastercard in Cadecas yet in 2014, long before any sanctions lifts from Cuba.
    – Suncatcher
    Dec 16, 2016 at 9:38
  • Very interesting, thanks. I was (somehow) not aware that Maestro and Mastercard were under the same umbrella, so I was worried about the actual card not working (e.g., I have a VPay card that I know will not work). I will check with my bank.
    – Felix
    Dec 16, 2016 at 12:57
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    In the end, I was able to withdraw cash from multiple ATMs with my Maestro card.
    – Felix
    Jan 11, 2017 at 19:23

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